Ressurection
A question of ressurection
In comic books and their role-playing systems, death is reversible. Beside its obvious effect on the character, what effects does revival have on his powers? The answer is: any effect. It depends on what killed the being the first time, what happened to the body, and how revival occurred. The Judge should decide which of the following states applies.
Physical resurrection occurs when the body is returned to at least minimal Health and a life force is restored or developed. If the body is restored to the same condition it had during its superpowered phase, such powers most likely reappear.
If the body is restored to a pre-super state (for example, a dead Thing being revived as a mid-20s Ben Grimm), such powers might not reappear. Of course, the potential for later development of powers remains (the revived Ben would still have his potential for mutation). Mental powers may reappear if they were a function of the physical structure of the brain or if the original life force returns.
If the deceased is cloned, you must consider whether the deceased? powers were genetic in nature. If the powers were not genetic, the clone is assumed to be the same as the deceased's pre-super form. If they were a function of the deceased's genetic code, the clone may be physically the same as the superbeing's original superbody. Powers that were based on later mutation or modification are not necessarily present in the clone, but the potential is there for recreation of those missing powers. For example, a clone of Ben Grimm would be human, but exposure to gamma radiation might make the clone orange, rocky, and superstrong. If the clone is possessed by the original's life force, mental or magical powers will probably reappear, although the clone may have initial difficulty in using familiar powers in an unfamiliar body.
Sometimes conditions transplant the deceased's life force into a new body. These "body transplants" give the hybrid a combination of the life force's mental or magical powers and the body's physical powers. For example, Walter Langkowski (formerly the orange-furred, male Sasquatch) was restored to life in the white-furred Sasquatch form that was once Snowbird's body. Langkowski thus retained the ability to transform between the white Sasquatch form and a human body, but that body was Narya's female form. (Fortunately, that little oversight has since been corrected.)
Ressurection as remodeling
Resurrection is a handy way to alter or redefine a superbeing's powers. Superpowers result from a complex interaction between a life force, a physical body, and (perhaps) external forces. Death, even as a temporary state, alters the equation. Players and Judges should agree on the overall effect the resurrection will have on a superbeing's powers. Examples include:- Retain the same powers but generate new ranks for them
- Trade randomly selected powers for new powers
- Throw out all powers and generate new ones
- Alter the ranks of a randomly selected number of Physical Abilities
- Keep only mental and magical powers (if this is a new body)
- Keep only physical powers (if this is a new life force)
- Combine old powers into new hybrid forms
- Add powers resulting from the means used to resurrect the deceased (for example, bionic implants to maintain the restored life force may possess additional abilities).